After Hours
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "Blaise?" Draco called out to the boy who walked into the common room. At the call of his name, Blaise made his way towards the sofas. "Why does Pucey want to hex you? What happened during your detention." "We got another one," he announced casually, tucking his hands into his pockets, "because Pucey couldn't keep her hands to herself."
1. After Hours

My first thoughts that I had after waking up was that the weather was going to be horrendous. I only needed to listen to the way the lake water was lapping angrily against the windows of our dorm. Daphne who was already awake, threw the windows a disgruntled look. Pushing my duvet away, I made my bed with a wave of my wand before beginning to get ready for the day. Pansy was the last to wake up and she threw a questioning glance towards the empty bed. Millicent had always been one to wake up early.

"Did you know," Daphne began casually making Pansy and I share a look as we changed into our uniform.

"What is it this time Daphne?" Tracy asked as I looped my tie around my neck.

"I heard something through the grapevine," Daphne said defensively, turning away from the windows to look at the rest of us.

"What is the entire common room gossiping about this time?" Pansy muttered dryly, watching as I searched my bedside table for a hair tie. She rolled her eyes, snagging one from her own table and throwing it towards me. I caught it with a thankful smile, tying my hair into a ponytail.

"Rumour has it that Blaise has a crush." And for once, one of the so-called rumours Daphne always told us, had managed to surprise every single one of us.

"Blaise Zabini has a _crush_?" I repeated questioning, "The same Blaise who's notoriously secret about his private life?"

"Well who's the lucky bitch?" Pansy asked trying to find her wand.

Sitting on the edge of my bed to fasten my shoes, I looked up suddenly when Daphne sounded far too pleased as she announced, "Pucey."

"Pucey as in _me_?" I questioned dryly, "or Pucey as in my brother." Daphne gave me a flat look, not appreciating that I wasn't taking her seriously. "Honestly, Daph, have you learnt to not listen to any of the rumours that circulate around the common room? Or to at least take them with a pinch of salt?"

The blond-haired witch, tossed her hair back with a humph. "You could be a little more excited about having bagged him."

"I haven't _bagged_ anyone," I reminded her. Rising to my feet I shrugged into my robe, looking to Pansy who was trying to humour Daphne, "Do you not remember the last rumour to come out of this so-called grapevine? They claimed that Pansy was in love with Draco and was chasing after him."

Pansy made a face like she'd sucked a lemon and Tracy laughed. "They couldn't have been more wrong. Pans was pining over that Hufflepuff. Which one was it again?"

"Smith," I supplied making Pansy groan and grab her pillow.

She threw it at Tracy, knocking the girl back onto her bed. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to bring that up again."

"Who could resist when it's such good ammunition," Daphne said, giving up trying to bring the conversation back to Blaise's supposed crush. "Merlin, the way you ran away from Smith whenever he was in the same room was something to see."

I stifled a laugh, remembering the way she had tried to set her robes on fire when, after dropping them, Smith had picked them up to give to her. She had been so convinced that he had put her under some sort of spell and had even thrown a party in the common room to celebrate her freedom when she got over her crush.

"Is Millie waiting for us?" I asked instead of bringing up more of Pansy's embarrassing memories. The girl was a dirty fighter and she was only bound to retaliate by bringing up our darkest memories.

"She left early to walk around the grounds but promised to keep our seats for us," Daphne said and we all began to hurry to finish getting ready, "We should probably get going. We don't want her to wait for us."

Once we were all dressed, we headed into the common room and apparently the fifth-year boys had decided to go the same. Daphne, upon seeing them walking towards the exit, nudged me and I rolled my eyes. Before she could do something stupid like trying to make me walk beside him, I dropped back to walk beside Pansy and engaged her in a conversation.

Despite Daphne's planning, we exited the common room before the boys were even partway through the room. And before she could suggest that we waited a little longer, I reminded her that Millicent was waiting for us and we were on our way to the great hall.

Upon entering the great hall, we headed straight to the Slytherin table and found Millicent who was sat alone, saving our seats. I settled down beside her and began to help myself to some toast when the fifth-year boys filtered into the great hall. When they arrived to the Slytherin table, they sat down beside us and I intentionally made sure not to look towards Daphne when Blaise settled down beside me. I didn't even bother to greet the boy as I searched the table for the strawberry jam that I always started the day with.

I eventually found it, on the other side of Blaise. Crabbe reached out to take the jam, only to recoil when Blaise slapped his hand away from the jar. Cradling his hand against his chest, Crabbe gave Blaise a searching look before shrugging and turning away. Blaise picked up the jam jar and before I could ask for it, he handed the jar to me. My eyebrows rose in surprise as I took it from him.

"Otherwise you'll ask me for it," he said bluntly, turning back to his own food, "and I want to eat my food in peace."

"Did I tell you to pass it to me?" I asked coldly, raising an eyebrow as I saw Daphne mouth 'I told you so' from the corner of my eye. "Magic exists for a reason."

* * *

Once we were finished with breakfast, we very reluctantly made our way towards our Potions classroom. Whilst we certainly got away with a lot more because we were Slytherins, Snape seemed to have tightened his reigns this year because O.W.L.s were just around the corner. His tolerance had certainly decreased a lot and we found ourselves trying not to get on his bad side. Merlin, if we felt like this then what did the rest of the houses feel like?

We entered the classroom, heading towards our normal seats at the back of the room. Or rather, that had been my plan until Daphne started her interfering again. She was blatantly trying to get me to sit at a different table so Draco, who after being pestered by Daphne, would send Blaise to sit next to me. I was vehemently refusing, glaring at her.

"I'd sooner sit next to Goyle," I hissed, as the boys took to their seats.

"Don't overreact," Daphne insisted, making me sit at the desk. This witch was going to get a hex soon.

I went to rise from the table to go to my normal desk when Blaise crossed the classroom and sat himself in the empty seat beside me. Merlin, if I got up to leave now then I risked being rude. But I could live with that.

Snape walked into the classroom, looking around with a glare and I sighed, resigning myself to sitting in this ridiculous seat. Millicent giggled from the desk behind us and I turned slightly, glaring at her. She quietened down and I turned back to the front of the classroom where Snape told us the potion we'd need to brew and that we would be working in pairs for the lesson today.

"Why are you being so quiet Pucey?" Blaise asked as the students around us began to get to work. They crowded around the ingredients and I decided to hang back a little and wait until the crowd died down.

"Maybe I don't want to talk to you," I drawled quietly, putting my chin in my hand as I looked across the room.

"Really?" He didn't sound convinced, "Because from the way you're avoiding even looking in my direction, anyone would think that you're interested in me."

I couldn't help but scoff. "Has someone cast a confundus on you?"

I was determined to work in silence after that as I turned to the correct page in my textbook. Blaise told me that he was going to get our ingredients and I simply nodded. Lighting the flame, I placed the cauldron on top of the stand, closely monitoring the heat. Blaise returned to the desk, depositing the ingredients and we silently got to work.

He began to shred the Valerian sprigs before adding them to the cauldron, stirring it four times in a counter clockwise direction and looking out for the change in colour. Satisfied, he nodded and turned to work on the next direction. I waited the time specified in the textbook before adding our blades of Goosegrass. Waiting for the potion to turn a reddish colour, I stepped away from the table to retrieve the 'tooth of wolf' that Blaise had forgotten.

I shouldn't have left the table. I should have stayed where I was to watch Blaise reach for the Goosegrass. But I didn't get to the table in time. By the time I reached the desk, he was already throwing the Goosegrass into the cauldron.

"I've already added the Goosegrass," I protested, hurrying to his side.

I waited anxiously to see what would happen and Blaise raised an eyebrow, looking back to the cauldron.

"There doesn't seem to have been an adverse reaction," he murmured, peering into the cauldron.

I followed his lead. Looking into the cauldron, I watched the potion turn a darker shade of red as it began to bubble violently. Blaise took in a deep breath, reaching out to take my hand and pulling me away from the desk until we bumped into the table behind us. Millie's cauldron wobbled from the impact and before she could ask what was going on – our cauldron exploded.

With a shriek of surprise, I brought my hands up to shield my face. I wasn't the only one to shout at the sudden sound and once the noise died down, the classroom was deathly silent. I opened my eyes, looking hesitantly towards the front of the classroom where Snape was making his way towards us. Salazar, this was the last thing I needed.

"Miss Pucey, Mr Zabini, do you enjoy making a scene in my classroom?" Snape waved his wand, clearing the mess away quickly. "Detention tonight."

I watched as Snape walked away from our desk and frowned. From beside me, Blaise sighed and removed the shielding charm he'd cast.

* * *

Snape's version of detention turned out to mean cleaning cauldrons by hand. Merlin, he'd taken our wands from us so we wouldn't be tempted to try using magic and, faced by the seemingly never-ending pile of cauldrons, I wanted to cry. We'd be here for _hours._

The first hour passed in a stifling silence which neither of us were willing to break. The only sound was that of the brushes rubbing against the cauldrons as we scrubbed them clean. As I finished with one, I set it aside and rose to my feet to collect another. I reached out to take it when Blaise took hold of the same one. My eyes rose to his, waiting for whatever he so clearly wanted to say.

"You know, I'm sick of you acting like this is my fault," he declared and before I could tell him that I didn't think it was his fault, he carried on without missing a beat, "if anything you're just as at fault as I am. If you had told to me that you'd already added the Goosegrass then none of this wouldn't have happened."

Letting go of the cauldron, I narrowed my eyes at him. So much for being pleasant. " _You_ could have _asked_ me."

He didn't have anything to say to that and I scoffed, grabbing the cauldron from his hands and marching towards the desk I'd been sat at. I started to scrub at it, being unnecessarily rough as I tried to get rid of some of the potion that had dried at the bottom of the cauldron. Bloody idiot, shifting blame onto me like it was all my fault.

"We've been in the same house for 5 years now," he piped up, still standing behind the pile of cauldrons. I wanted to glare at him and complain that he wasn't washing the cauldrons but I stifled the urge and instead listened to whatever it was that he wanted to say to me.

"And what about it?"

"I like to think that I can read people well," he declared as I dropped the brush, letting it clatter inside the cauldron. If he was taking a break then so was I. Crossing my arms, I pressed them to the table. "So I can tell that there's something on your mind. There has been since Potions, so what is it?"

"It's nothing," I murmured, shaking my head slowly, "Just some house gossip that's been stuck in my head since I heard it."

"What is it?" He turned his eyes onto me, quietly assessing what it was that I was hiding.

Like he'd said, we'd been in the same house for 5 years and it was for that very reason that I knew what he was doing. People's body language gave away a lot more than their words did and Blaise had a habit of studying someone's body language and their behaviour to figure out what was going on. If he ever chose to become a legilimens then he'd be a very dangerous wizard.

Closing my features off, I straightened up and picked up the brush to begin working again. "Nothing."

"If it's enough to be stuck in your head Pucey, then it must be something?" He made a sound as if he'd become enlightened. "It's about you, isn't it?"

"What does this have to do with you?" I questioned rudely as a voice in the back of my head popped up that it was very much to do with him. He raised an arrogant eyebrow. With a sigh, I consented, "Haven't you heard the murmurs coming from the entire house? Surely you know what I mean?"

And if the smirk on his face was any indication, then he did know what I meant. He knew far too well. "Why are you letting such a rumour rile you up? Unless you wish that it were true."

Bristling at his question, I watched as he crossed the room to walk towards me. "Of course not."

"Now why is that? Are you currently pining after someone?"

"Don't be stupid, Blaise."

He reached the other side of the desk, pressing his hands to the table top as he stared down at me, searching my eyes for a moment. Before I could ask him what he was doing and what he was trying to pull, he murmured a quiet "Good" and leaned in to press a kiss to my lips.

My lips parted in shock under his and he made a sound against my lips, going to take advantage of my shock. Coming to my senses, I pushed him away from me. He stared back at me with that infuriating smirk on his face, straightening out.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"That, Miss Pucey," a dreaded voice said from the doorway, "is what I am wondering."

Screwing my eyes shut, I opened them and glanced hesitantly to the doorway of the classroom where Professor Snape was now standing. Blaise turned to face our professor, standing shamelessly under the older man's eyes.

"I believe it goes without saying that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable," he drawled steadily, walking to his desk and removing our wands from his pocket, placing them on top. "You are to serve another detention tomorrow night. Now run along to the common room."

I hurried to my feet, brushing past Blaise with a scoff and took my wand from the older man. Hurrying out into the hallway, I let my anger build up as I walked towards the common room. Another detention! As if the first bad enough. Merlin, Snape had walked in on –

"Pucey," Blaise called out from behind me but I ignored him, speeding up my steps as I approached the common room.

I didn't bother to wait for him as I walked into the common room to find my friends crowded around the sofas together. Pansy was the first to notice me and seeing the anger written clearly across my features, she sighed.

"What happened?"

"I'm _this_ close to hexing Blaise," I announced, walking towards the sofa and snagging the empty space between Pansy and Tracy.

"Blaise?" Draco called out to the boy who walked into the common room. At the call of his name, Blaise made his way towards the sofas. "Why does Pucey want to hex you? What happened during your detention."

"We got another one," he announced casually, tucking his hands into his pockets, "because Pucey couldn't keep her hands to herself."

I scoffed incredulously, ignoring the curious glances that were thrown my way. "If you're going to lie at least tell a believable one, Zabini."

"Lie?" He smirked, "When did I tell a lie?"

"Oh please. _You_ kissed _me_!"

"You kissed!" Daphne exclaimed loud enough for the entire common room to hear. Pansy nudged her to make her shut up.

My eyes hadn't left Blaise's and I watched as his smirk only grew. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. Why did it seem like he'd gotten the exact reaction that he'd wanted?

* * *

I was in such a foul mood that even watching the house quidditch match wasn't enough to bring me out of it. As I sat in the stands, watching the game begin, I tried and failed not to notice the whispers surrounding me. Salazar's soul, even the bloody first years were whispering about me! Where had the strict hierarchy of the house gone?

Pansy, who was sat beside me, shifted in her seat. She was clearly eager to ask me something, so why didn't she just do it? What was the point of beating around the bush like a bloody Hufflepuff?

"Get it over with Pansy," I muttered, watching as the two teams took the sky to begin the game.

"I know you denied it before," she began, lowering her voice, "but did you really kiss Blaise?"

I rolled my eyes, turning to give her a look that I had perfected. It was cold enough to incite fear into the most rambunctious of the first years and yet Pansy didn't so much as flinch under it.

"Yes, we kissed," I muttered darkly, "but _no_ I did _not_ initiate it. Merlin Pans, I was practically attacked by him in the classroom."

"But he doesn't seem like the sort of person," she trailed off, looking past me for a moment.

"Well he _is_ the sort of person to do that." I let out a frustrated sigh, looking out to the pitch where Adrian stole the quaffle from one of the opposing chasers. "Bloody bastard's spreading rumours around the entire house. Merlin, I should show him what it's like."

"By spreading something about him?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you said you were above the whole rumours thing."

"Well that was before he decided to make this personal. Do you want to know something Pans?" I turned my eyes briefly away from the game, "The kiss wasn't even worth it; he's not a good kisser."

Millie who was sat on the other side of me tried her best not to laugh. Pansy didn't even bother.

"Salazar," she said through her laughter, "I'll take the pleasure of spreading the gossip. We just need to mention it in front of a group of first years and it'll spread like a wild fire."

"And the best part is that it won't be traced back to you," Millie agreed, "so no one's going to think of it as slander. They'll see it as something you mentioned to your friends in private."

"Well it's the truth," I muttered with shake of my head, turning to the match. Ok, maybe it was a lie. My eyes instantly went to Adrian who managed to score yet another goal. Tilting my head curiously, I wondered, "Should I set Adrian on him? Merlin knows Blaise is an arrogant bastard, he needs to be knocked down peg."

"Even Draco's afraid of Adrian when he gets angry," Daphne acknowledged, "But from what I heard, Adrian already heard about the rumours and he's planning on having a word with Blaise after the match. Speaking of Blaise –" she gestured further down the stands where Blaise was sat with his dormmates.

The boys were paying minimal attention to the game and I didn't bother giving them anymore of my attention. Although, I was certain that I had managed to catch Blaise's eye before turning away from them.

The match continued as Millie leaned towards me to say quietly, "I was talking to Theo and just – be careful during detention today."

Looking at my dormmate for a moment, my eyebrows rose in surprise when I realised that she was serious. Bless Millie, most of the year liked to take make fun of her because she wasn't the typical beauty and claimed that she had a horrendous personality. But, as one of the few half-bloods in Slytherin house, she hadn't exactly been welcomed with open arms. Was it any wonder that she was so cold to so many people? Once you looked past it all, she was a sweet girl, one that placed her friends before herself.

"I will," I assured her with a smile, "Thanks Millie."

The Slytherin stands erupted into gasps and I looked instantly to the pitch, knowing that it was a bad sign. And sure enough, there Adrian was, dangling from his broom. The bloody adrenaline junkie had an easy grin on his face as he effortlessly manoeuvred himself back to sit astride his broom. He was so lax about his safety that I had taken to caring about it for him.

"Relax," a voice said from behind me as a hand was placed on top of the one I had suddenly gripped my robes with.

I froze at the sound of Blaise's voice in my ear. Looking to my left, I made a face to see him sitting beside me. When had he gotten there? I peered around him to see that Millie was currently being occupied by Theo. Making a mental note to talk to Theo about exploiting Millie's feelings, I turned back to the boy sitting beside me, snatching my hand out from under his.

"What do you want?" I eyed him dirtily.

"I just wanted to ask if you're ready for a repeat performance?" My eyes flickered to his, watching as he raised an eyebrow, "Of our detention that is. Salazar Pucey, what _were_ you thinking of?"

"Piss off."

He didn't react to my confrontational tone as he remarked casually, "Although, if you want something else than I can do that for you too."

Pansy snorted at his words and I narrowed my eyes. "You know what, I was going to tell Adrian not to hex you but I've changed my mind. Since you're such a smooth talker why don't you try and talk yourself out of that!"

I turned away from him in time to see Draco catch the snitch. Slytherin won the match and we all made our way towards the common room, eagerly anticipating the party that was sure to follow. By the time we reached the dungeon, the party was already in full swing and we readily joined the celebration. I took the glass that Theo offered me and before I could so much as take a sip, it was snatched out of my hands.

Turning to look at the culprit, I wasn't surprised to find Adrian taking the cup and giving it a sniff. Realising that it was something stronger than pumpkin juice, he levelled me a firm look. "You're underage."

"Oh please, my 16th birthday is a month away – you're acting like you didn't break such a small rule."

He scoffed, reaching out to ruffle my hair, "Don't be like me – be better than I am."

"Well seeing as you're head boy, I'll say you've done something right."

"Because I'm smart," he said without a hint of arrogance. I rolled my eyes, watching as Adrian took a sip from what was supposed to be my glass and grew serious. "I need to have a word with you."

"I already know what you're going to say," I muttered, glancing around the common room.

"Just answer a few questions of mine. Did you kiss Zabini or did he kiss you?"

"He kissed me," I grumbled, wondering why we were having this mortifying conversation in the middle of the common room where anyone could overhear us. Merlin, they were probably listening anyway.

"Alright, I'm not going to hex him just because he kissed you. Salazar knows you're not a nun. But did you _want_ him to kiss you?" I was silent, wondering what the real answer to his question was. And truthfully, I wasn't sure. But Adrian took my answer to mean no. "Ok then, that's enough reason for me to hex him."

Downing the rest of whatever was in the cup, he turned to leave when I caught his arm. Giving me a curious look, he grinned when I said, "Just don't get in trouble."

"For a minute there I thought you were going to stop me."

"Please," I scoffed, releasing his arm, "like you said, I'm no nun."

* * *

When the time for our detention arrived, we reported to Professor Snape only to be told that we were to serve in the kitchens. We had been told to wash all the dishes by hand; the house-elves had been ordered not to intercede and they watched with blatant agony on their faces as we washed and cleaned all the dishes. Merlin, what was with Snape and physical labour?

I had been washing the dishes by hand for over half an hour now and as I set the plate that I'd just washed on the side, I stared at my wrinkly fingers with a pout. Salazar, this wasn't fair. None of this was my fault!

Blaise, who had been sat in at the table drying the dishes, rose to his feet with a sigh, I watched him with suspicious eyes. Ever since I received the warnings from Millie and even from Blaise himself, I found myself wanting to jump whenever he entered my personal space. But I was a Slytherin so I wasn't going to do that!

"Swap," he ordered, nudging me out of the way. I obliged, moving out of the way to let him wash up. He looked around the sink for a moment before reaching out to grab something. I frowned when I realised that he'd found the washing gloves that I'd spent so long looking for. "It's not my fault you didn't find them. Now get drying."

I made a face at his back and walked to the spot that he had abandoned. Settling down in the seat, I began where he had left off, drying the dishes one by one. If we had our wands then this would have been so much easier, so much quicker! Why did we have to do things the muggle way when magic existed for a reason?

"You weren't kidding about your brother hexing me," he began conversationally.

Picking up a plate to dry, I didn't even look his way as I spoke, "What did he do?"

I glanced up then, in time to see him look over his shoulder. He raised an arrogant eyebrow and I was _so_ tempted to singe it. Salazar he was lucky I didn't have my wand. "Concerned?"

Scoffing, I looked back to the plate in my hands and realising it was dry, I handed it off to the house-elf that was standing beside me. "Not about you." The house-elf smiled and hurried to put it back to its place as I picked up another plate to dry. "I was just wondering if anyone happened to catch Adrian hexing you – I don't want him to lose his badge over something like this."

We worked in silence for a while longer and I let myself relax. He wasn't going to do a thing to me. Adrian had sorted it out. Sometimes it paid off to have a brother who was willing to hex people for me –

"Have you heard anymore rumours?"

"Since when did you care so much about rumours?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just trying to kill time here, Pucey." He paused momentarily, turning to give me a look. "Unless you'd rather pass time in another way?"

"Do you want Adrian to hex you again? I might do it myself this time." Rolling my eyes, I realised that he wasn't going to leave me alone until he heard whatever it was that he wanted. "I'm assuming that by rumours you mean the ones about me clinging onto you? Or the ones about us having been dating in secret for a long time?"

Blaise smirked that infuriating smirk as he picked up the pile of dishes he'd washed. He crossed the kitchen, carrying the dishes to the table and putting them down. He remained where he was standing, giving me a look.

Averting my eyes back to the plate I was drying I grumbled, "You just _had_ to go and say that crap."

"It's all fun and games," he insisted, "nothing serious."

"Oh please just because you opened your mouth all the boys are scared of going after a taken witch." Throwing him a glare, I watched as he straightened up at my admission. He slowly walked around the table, coming towards me and I eyed his approach apprehensively. "Why did your bloody fun and games have to get in the way of my social life?"

"It's not a bad thing," he insisted, leaning towards me again.

The last time he had approached me swiftly, even before I could realise what was happening. This time, his approach was slower as if he was giving me the time to back away from him.

"Don't try it Zabini," I warned harshly, "if you think I'm going to let you –"

"You're not exactly leaning away Pucey."

Before I could contest his words, he leaned in and kissed me soundly. The plate that I was still holding, almost slipped out of my grasp but I gripped it tight in my hands. Quite when my eyes had closed I didn't know, but the moment he pulled away, I found myself opening my eyes, staring up into his own.

"Say what you want Pucey, but this time I gave you chance to pull away," he warned as he straightened up only to let out a groan seconds later. His eyes drifted past me and he murmured a quiet, "Professor."

Stiffening at the single word, I rose to my feet and looked to the doorway where Professor Sprout was standing, looking majorly shocked. The shock fled from her features, as she flushed and cleared her throat.

"Well I never!"

"Professor," I protested quietly, shifting away from Blaise who I was tempted to curse. Merlin, if Snape didn't have my wand then I would've cursed him right now.

"Miss Pucey, Mr Zabini," she began, walking into the kitchen, "from what I understand you are supposed to be serving detention? Your inappropriate behaviour will be report to Professor Snape. For now, you detention is over and you may retrieve your wands. They've been delivered by your head of house to the head boy."

Sprout dismissed us without so much as a second glance and Blaise was the first of us to react, brushing past our Herbology Professor. I stared after him for a few seconds before regaining my senses and hurrying after him. Merlin, enough was enough!

I followed after him, struggling to catch up to him until we reached the common room. Crossing the threshold into the common room, I didn't even care who was in it. He made his way to the sofa, sitting down and I stalked over to him.

Crossing my arms, I stared down at him and demanded, "What the hell do you think you're playing Zabini? Why do you keep kissing me? Do you not want the rumours to go away?"

"Believe it or not Pucey," he drawled, staring up at me, "you're the one fuelling the rumours this time round." He smirked at my glare, "You know, for such a smart girl, it really is taking you a long time to figure out." His words had me thinking for a moment and I knew he could see the moment realisation dawned on me. He chuckled quietly, "There you go."

"The first rumour was true," I muttered, uncrossing my arms and fidgeting slightly. "You do fancy me."

"If we're going to use the juvenile word for it then yeah, I fancy you."

"So," Draco piped up from beside Blaise, "does this mean the two of you are together then?"

I shook my head, looking away from Blaise, "No."

His eyebrows rose imperiously as he wondered aloud, "How many more kisses is it going to take?"

I didn't have an answer for him but was spared the need to answer when Adrian walked into the common room. He made a beeline for the sofas and reached into his pockets to retrieve our wands.

"What the hell did you do in your detention?" he demanded, handing Blaise his wand before holding my own out to me. "Snape said that the pair of you need to report to Sprout for detention tomorrow night."

Glaring at Blaise, I adjusted my hold on my wand. Merlin, I was tempted to hex him. Besides, it wasn't like Adrian was going to take points from me anyway.

"What's going on?" Adrian questioned and I decided to answer him when it was clear Blaise wouldn't.

"He got us in trouble again," I murmured, turning into Adrian. "So, I'm going to hex him."

"I can do it for you?" he offered, "We both know I'm better at it than you are."

"The head boy can't keep going around hexing people."

Adrian nodded, looking past me to meet Blaise's eyes. "Keep picking on my sister Zabini and I'll land you in the hospital wing."

Boys! Honestly.

* * *

As instructed, we reported for our next detention to Sprout who requested our presence in greenhouse 1. Merlin, if Blaise did something to make us get another detention then I was going to kill him. Maybe it was a better idea for us to start serving out detentions separately.

Sprout had told us to water all the plants in the numerous greenhouses and then we could leave. She saw no need to take our wands from us and I was thankful that it meant I could hex Blaise if he began to get too close to me again. Before she had left us alone in the greenhouse, she had said firmly that there was to be no inappropriate behaviour. I promised her that there wouldn't be and noticed that Blaise hadn't done such a thing.

"I'll be back in half an hour," Sprout said over her shoulder as she exited the greenhouse, leaving us alone.

I got to work immediately; the quicker we started, the sooner we could leave. Grabbing a watering can, I noticed that Blaise hadn't made a single move from where he was standing. Rolling my eyes, I approached the hose that was mounted on the wall. Bending over slightly, I turned the hose on and filled up the watering can.

"Are you going to make me do everything?" I demanded.

"Don't mind me Pucey," he said from behind me. Salazar, I could _hear_ the smirk in his words. "I'm just enjoying the view."

I scoffed, straightening up quickly. Turning the hose off, I muttered, "You really don't act like a boy who's got a crush."

"Do you expect every boy to act the same way?" he asked, stealing the full watering can from me and handing me an empty one to fill. I made a face but filled the can without a fuss, watching as he started to water the plants one by one.

We worked in silence again and I walked towards the new seedlings of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage. Looking over the instructions Sprout had left us, I read that these plants needed more water than usual and reached out to pull one of the small potted tubs towards me. Blaise was at my side in an instant, pulling my hand away from the plant just as the Cabbage awoke to snap at the air where my hand had previously been. Merlin. That thing would have chomped right through my hand. My eyes were still wide with shock when I turned to meet Blaise's unimpressed eyes.

"While I'm flattered to be able to distract you so much, I'd rather you pay attention to your safety," he muttered dryly and I gave him a look. Releasing my hand, he set his watering can on the counter and said without faltering, "Now that everything's out in the open, how about I take you to Hogsmeade to make up for all the embarrassment I've caused you this week?"

"What gives?" I asked suspiciously, putting my own watering can down. Crossing my arms, I turned towards him, "Why suddenly change tactic?"

"Because my other tactic clearly wasn't working," he said honestly, surprising me. "So?"

"I don't know," my words were quiet as I asked quietly, "if I agree, then you're not going to keep getting us detentions? The getting us into trouble ends here?"

He nodded but added, "I can't any promises about not kissing you though."

Watching him for a moment, I nodded slowly and said in as casual a voice as I could muster. "Fine."

Then, picking up my watering can, I turned away from him and continued to water the plants. I pretended that I couldn't feel his heavy gaze on me and made sure that he didn't see that way I was flushing at the turn of events. He'd never let me live it down.


	2. Epilogue: 4 Years Later

_4 YEARS LATER_

The wedding was beautiful; as I knew it would be.

This wedding, the second Zabini wedding that I had been invited to, was somehow even more extravagant than the last. I watched, sitting beside Blaise as his mother walked up the aisle towards her soon to be tenth husband. The man was positively beaming at the sight of the beautiful older witch and Blaise scoffed from beside me.

"Will you stop it," I hissed from the corner of my mouth, watching as the one Blaise simply liked to call 'ten' reached out to lift Mrs Zabini's veil.

"It's a shame," Blaise murmured, leaning in close to me, "I actually liked this one."

I made no comment to that because what could I say? We all knew what was going to happen six months from now. And it really was a shame because from the moment 'ten' entered the picture he had gone out of his way to get to know Blaise. The kindly old wizard had even gotten to know me, claiming I was part of the family too and Merlin, I was already grieving for him. Blaise had even attempted to talk his mother out of marrying this one.

Maybe Mrs Zabini had a point with this multiple weddings thing. Perhaps not the whole numerous husbands part but everyone said that the hardest part of planning a wedding was making the tough decisions. At least this way she got to try different things each time. Even her dress was strikingly different than the one she had worn during her previous wedding.

The ceremony ended soon after with the newly married couple sharing a kiss. We rose to our feet, as did the rest of the guests, to watch the couple as they exited the venue. Slowly the guests began to leave the room to head over to the reception and we hanged back a little, not wanting to be squashed by the crowd during our exit. Blaise reached down to pick up my shawl which I'd draped over the chair I had been sitting on.

"You're so forgetful," he muttered, offered me his arm.

"Well you're here to remind me."

Taking his offered arm, I let him lead me out of the chapel and towards the pavilion where the reception was being held. We walked the long way around through the immaculate gardens, taking our time before we rejoined the rest of the guests. There was only so much wedding festivity either of us could take.

Walking towards the pavilion, I watched curiously as Mrs Zabini prepared to throw the bouquet. Blaise, seeing my curiosity, rolled his eyes and nudged me.

"Don't bother trying to catch it," he said bluntly, "mother isn't kind to the ones that try and upstage her. I think it was during her fifth wedding where someone proposed to one of her friends? The couple ended breaking up within weeks. They're both still very single and spiralling towards dying alone."

"Who said I was going to try and catch the bouquet?" I rolled my eyes as we made our way towards the top table, dodging past some children that were running wild. Watching them go with a smile, I looked up to Blaise who was staring down at me with curious eyes. "Well?"

"Isn't that what girls do?"

"When they want to marry their boyfriends maybe," I allowed as we found our seats at the top table. Blaise pulled my chair out for me, "But who said I want to marry you Zabini?" He raised an eyebrow, settling down into the chair next to me, "I'm just keeping you around until Mr Right comes along."

"You're speaking as if I'm going to let you go so easily," he stated with a curious tilt of his head as he draped an arm over the back of my chair.

"Is that supposed to be romantic?" I wondered as the bride and groom took to their seats. Blaise wasn't impressed, "Although, I suppose for _you_ that is pretty romantic?"

Before Blaise could begin his pouting, his mother cleared her throat to gain my attention. Glancing at the woman standing behind my chair, I rose to my feet to talk to her. She cast a look over my outfit – one she had insisted on handpicking – before looking to her son who was watching her with assessing eyes. The woman never quite got over how protective he seemed to be of me and she had told me as much. Out of all the girlfriends, Blaise'd had, it seemed that I was the one that he was keen on keeping away from his mother.

She cleared her throat, looking away from her son and to my surprise, embraced me quickly. I hesitated to return it as Mrs Zabini thanked me for coming. The infamous Black Widow Witch was soon distracted by her now husband and I wondered whether she knew how obvious her dislike of me was. According to Pansy it was only because I'd stolen Blaise from her. Which was ridiculous; I hadn't stolen anyone.

Reaching out to take my hand, Blaise pulled me back down into my seat and angled his body towards mine, turning his back on the rest of the guests.

"What is it?" I asked, seeing the heavy frown which settled on his features. Reaching out to cup his cheek, I watched the frown melt away into a small smile.

He shook his head. "When have you next got time off from work?"

"In a few weeks' time," I said after thinking for a moment, "but I'm not sure of the exact dates."

"Let's go away for a bit," he suggested, taking my hand in his and linking our fingers. "England's too boring right now."

"Your mother just got married –"

"That's not exactly new," he pointed out, rolling his eyes. He raised my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. "So?"

"You're hiding something."

He gave me his most innocent smile. "I just want to take my witch and go relax in the sun for a while. Is that so much of a crime?"


End file.
